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If you take away one thing from my post today...I hope that you are encouraged to bless someone today.

As believers, we have the unique, under-appreciated ability to bless those around us daily. We can say the same thing we would to our boss as the janitor. Are you doing that? Or do you think there are a certain level of people you cannot bless?

I used to think that. I thought I could only encourage people my age or younger. It used to seem like a foreign idea to me to try and have an impact on someone who is older than me. But one thing I have learned is that encouragement is encouragement. No matter who you are talking to. 

Have you ever gotten a text from someone out of the blue that was encouraging to you? If so, it's one of the best feelings. You feel so loved, cared for, and appreciated. So why not do the same for someone else?

One of my favorite things to do is send out some of those encouragement (blessing) texts. I never do that for me. I know how it feels to be encouraged and my hope is that I can do the same for someone else. 

You can't be afraid to give more than you get back. That goes will all things in life. If I only encouraged people based off of the encouragement that I got, I would be extremely limited. 

This past week I received an encouragement text from someone and that meant the world to me. 

"And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater." (Hebrews 7:7)

The "lesser is blessed by the greater" means a person who has the power to bless is always greater than the person that he or she blesses. 

Bless someone today. Go out of your way and spend 5 minutes talking to someone you usually don't. Call a friend you haven't had a conversation with in a while. Send out some texts. Tell someone you appreciate them. Treat everyone the same.

Never feel like there is a level of people that you cannot bless. You can bless anyone. When you bless someone you are always greater than the person you are blessing regardless of age, title, or occupation. 

We have the ability to bless someone everyday. Don't take it for granted. 

suffer first

We all suffer. We have all suffered. We all will suffer at some point in this life. Suffering it inevitable. This suffering I am talking about isn't suffering to the point of death...it's when you are going through something in your life that makes things difficult for you. Something that makes you feel uncomfortable...

How do you embrace the suffering you are going through. Do you wallow in self-pity or to you take it?

I know that we will be rewarded for our perseverance when we suffer. That is usually what gets me through it. Plus I know that suffering is temporary and extremely brief compared to the lives that we will live in eternity.

Did you know that Christ suffered first, before he received the crown? It was the cross before the crown...

"But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by his generation." (Luke 17:25)

We want to live lives like Jesus right? We must suffer first in order to do that.

Next time we suffer we need to realize... 'hey, Jesus went through this too.'

He went through it first...

We can't experience eternal glory in heaven without suffering first. As you approach a start to a new week. Embrace every difficult and tough situation that you go through. Christ went through it and you can too. This is the first step in your relationship with Christ to become more like Him...

reverent submission

Reverent submission = answered prayers

Reverent submission = yes Lord, I’ll obey, because your eyes see further than mine.

Reverent submission = not my will, but yours.

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. (Hebrews 5:7)

If we desperately want prayers answered, God won’t hear our prayers if we continue to pray in a lackluster way. The crazy thing is, I believe that God is so good that he does answer our lackluster prayers sometimes. Now imagine if we prayed in reverent submission. Imagine how much your faith and your life would change

Praying with reverent submission means that you are willing to do whatever God wants.

I encourage you to commit to praying with reverent submission and I promise God will do amazing things.

rest now

If there is one area in my life that I would love to improve on, it is my ability to rest. I am horrible at this. I cannot rest to save my life. I often work 7 days a week and don’t give myself any time to rest during the week. I can’t sleep in and I can’t chill. I’ve brainwashed myself to constantly and diligently work hard.

Did you actually know that not resting is disobedience? God wants us to rest just like he did.

There remains, then, a sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11)

My excuse I always make is that I’ll be able to rest someday...I can’t keep doing that. It’s not pleasing to God and it’s probably not very healthy for me.

Let’s commit to resting now. Are you with me?

For us, it’s peace with God now and eternal life on a new earth later. We do not need to wait for the next life to enjoy God’s rest and peace; we may have it daily now.

Our daily rest with the Lord will not end with death, but will become an eternal rest in the place that Christ is preparing for us.

new hearts, new, desires, and new spirits.

Sometimes, I don’t like to admit this, but when I hear Gods’s voice, I’ll hardened my heart. Sometimes the timing isn’t what I want and I pretend to not listen to God. Other times I just want to do other things and not listen to God.

It’s like the feeling you get when you know you should really go talk to this person you see, but you’re worried about what other people will say...it’s out of the way for you...and you just don’t feel like it.

I believe it’s safe to say that’s pretty common among believers.

Did you know that hardening you heart is a sign of unbelief? Hardening your heart is way of saying that you are going to do things your own way and not God’s way. Unbelieving hearts are sinful as well.

See to it brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:12-13)

Our hearts turn away from the living God when we stubbornly refuse to believe him. If we persist in our unbelief, God will eventually leave us alone in our sin.

We keep stubbornly refusing to believe and trust God, we are going to get stuck in a rut of sin. Honestly, God might you leave you there too if you keep refusing him.

But God can give us new hearts, new, desires, and new spirits.

To prevent having an unbelieving heart, stay in fellowship with other believers.

That is everything. Spend time with those who are going to be open to everything that God wants them to do. Sometimes, those people seem a little crazy sometimes, and might not be the coolest people in terms of the way the world views them. But those who are the people we need to surround ourselves with.

I encourage you to not harden your hearts and to have your heart so wide open to what God wants for you.

go to Jesus

I’ll start by asking two questions: Do you turn to Jesus when you are suffering and are tempted? Did you know that Jesus was fully human?

Yes, Jesus was fully human and went through many of the same issues that we face. He suffered. He was tempted. He went through it all. He overcame it all. So why don’t we turn to him when we suffer and are tempted? Why do we turn to other people first? Jesus suffered so that he could help us get through our suffering and we so often overlook him.

I feel like we overlook Jesus suffering and being tempted because we forget that Jesus was human. A lot of people might not know that, so I hope this posts helps you learn something new.

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. 
(Hebrews 2:18)

Knowing that Christ suffered pain and faced temptation helps us face our trails.

Jesus understand our struggles because he faced them as a human being. We can trust Christ to help us survive suffering and overcome temptation. When you face trails, go to Jesus for strength and patience. He understands your needs and is able to help.

the solid rock

This might be just me, but sometimes it seems like so many things in the world are so going badly that it won’t ever get better. It’s like a never ending negativity. It seems like everyday there is a new story about a murder, a new disease, or a tragic disaster.

I don’t know how you handle that...especially internally. Negativity and how you really perceive things plays a big role in how you handle it. We could be really negative, and just not have any hope. Have you ever felt that way before?

Sometimes that’s how it feels during the long months of winter in the Midwest. Those weeks where the sun doesn’t shine and it’s just cloudy.

What if I told you that good is going to come. All the negative things are going to end. That you have a solid rock to stand on.

Christ is the ONLY security in a changing world.

“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.” 
(Hebrews 1:13)

As believers in Christ, we can sit and wait for what God has promised and it’s going to happen. Sometimes I don’t feel like we have that confidence. Remember, God wants as many people to believe in Him and have eternity in heaven with Him, but he doesn’t need us.

Imagine having confidence in Christ where we could literally just know that we could sit and he will come. God is going to do the things he said he as going to do. He always has and will never stop.

Whatever may happen in this world, Christ remains forever changeless. If we trust Him, we are absolutely secure, because we stand on the firmest foundation in the universes-Jesus Christ. A famous hymn captures this truth: “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”